The Nintendo DS is obviously geared toward a more casual crowd than its portable competition, the PSP, but that certainly doesn’t mean that hardcore games can’t thrive on the platform. With Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Swords, Team Ninja has taken their franchise on the go, but can a series known for its intense difficulty and precision work on the DS? Keep reading to find out.

Ninja Gaiden DS is definitely a game for fans of the series, but it borrows a lot of conventions that make it appear to be a casual game. The DS is held like a book a la Brain Age or Hotel Dusk, and don’t worry, the game works just as well for lefties as it does for righties. Additionally, just like last fall’s The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Ninja Gaiden DS is controlled completely with the stylus. Sword attacks are performed by simply drawing lines on enemies, jumps are done by stroking upwards, and projectiles are fired by tapping enemies. Ninpo magic can be used by tracing Asian characters on the touch screen.

The DS’ orientation and control scheme work very well together, and even when there are multiple enemies on screen, it doesn’t feel cluttered, especially with the added verticality of turning the DS on its side. The main issue is that the controls aren’t precise enough to perform the more complicated maneuvers. Later in the game, when there are a lot more enemies on screen, it gets difficult to perform moves that require multiple strokes. They will happen by chance occasionally, but much of the time, throwing enemies into the air in order to catch and then slam them into the ground is difficult to perform. It’s not a game-breaking issue though. Scribbling enough will normally take care of most enemies.

Control imprecision aside, the presentation in the game is far above average. Though the backgrounds are in 2D, they are very detailed and complement the superb 3D character models. The fighting animations are fluid and smooth, for both Ryu and his foes. The games boss battles are some of the best I’ve seen on the system with looming demons and dragons. The camera can be a bit of a nuisance, however, because unlike the drawn-out view during normal gameplay, the camera positions itself directly behind Ryu at ground level for bosses. By being placed directly behind Ryu, projectiles are difficult to see, and I tended to just roll and dodge them instead of deflecting them back.

The game’s story, though beautifully told, is utterly forgettable. Cut scenes are presented in vibrant comic-book-style interludes, but the heart of the narrative is very generic. An evil force tries to collect various objects; Ryu goes to collect them first. The entire story boils down to one long fetch quest.

The game offers online leaderboards via Nintendo WiFi connection, but that’s where it ends. The top 10 or so spots already have the maximum score possible, so the system already seems to have reached its potential. There are unlockable difficulties after the normal ones, and they should add life to the game for perfectionists, but those looking to only take one spin through will get about 6 hours out of the normal game (and that time includes with all spells and items purchased).

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Swords, despite a bland story, offers a level off polish that very few third-party DS games achieve. If you’re a fan of the series or want a more hardcore DS game to play on the toilet, I definitely recommend picking this one up. Also, try and pick up one of the Dragon Sword styluses that came with preorders. It’s totally badass.

4/5